Moving On and Away: A 'The Kissing Dilemma' Spin-Off Story
by PinkPanda-theYAfangirl-17
Summary: *This is a spin-off of dayuuuumgirl's The Kissing Dilemma after Chapter 25. It is highly recommended to read it before this fanfic.* Clary left home after she called Cornell. She moved in with Sebastian for the summer before leaving to go to California with her birth dad Luke. Now what happens the summer before college when her past comes back to bite her? Rated T for some language
1. Prolouge Part 1

_*****If you haven't read The Kissing Dilemma by dayuuuumgirl, I would strongly recommend you do so before reading this. Not only is this a spin-off story of TKD but it also has major spoilers.*****_

* * *

Clary sat down on her bed and cried her guts out. The people at Cornell had went and saw Jace play and Aline had informed her that Jace was given a full scholarship. It was nice that Aline had told her but at the same time Clary wished she hadn't. Clary heard her mother knock on the door.

"Clary, supper is ready. Try to look nice. Valentine is eating with us." Clary immediately stopped crying and made her voice cheerful. "Sure Mom. Give me a few minutes." Normally she would be complaining that Valentine was here but it might help her with her crazy plan.

She had washed her face so it wasn't puffy and even put her hair up. She walked towards Jocelyn and gave her a big hug. Softly planting a kiss on her cheeks, Clary mustered up as much sweetness in her voice as she could."I love you Mommy." Clary almost jerked back from her own surprise. Mommy? She hadn't called Jocelyn Mommy since she was 8.

Jocelyn turned and gave Clary a curious stare. "What do you want Clary?" Clary took a deep breath and lead her into the dining room. She forced her mother next to Val and began explaining her crazy plan.

"Jocelyn, i know you hate my biological dad" Clary was cut off with a pissed looking Jocelyn. She quickly continued,"but I have never met him and it isn't fair that Seb did. So I went and found him on Facebook. And I started talking to him recently. What I want is tomoveinwithuntilIgraduate." She had rushed the words at the end hoping Jocelyn understood.

One look at her face and Clary knew she hadn't. "I want to move in with Luke," she paraphrased to the silent adults. Her mother moved and it turned Clary's blood to ice. "That man left us Clary. What could be so bad that you would want to leave New York and move to California?" Clary looked at Valentine and he saw in her eyes the truth. He was after all the one who heard all the drama during school.

Still he didn't say anything. He instead stayed quiet. Bastard. Lying smoothly she told her mother, "I want to see my dad. Do I need a reason to miss the man who took part in creating me? I'm sixteen yet I've never met my real father." It wasn't a complete lie.

Jocelyn narrowed her eyes at Clary. "Get out of my house." This caused Clary to stumble back. "If you move in with Luke then you will not be welcomed in this house anymore." Her jaw dropped. "But Jocelyn, it's May! I'm still in school for another week." Jocelyn stood up and started talking to Clary in a scary calm voice. Val pulled her on to his lap and spoke to her in quiet voices. Clary saw her mother start to relax. She then turned back to Clary.

"You will have until the school year ends to pack up everything of yours in this house. I will give you until Friday night at midnight to have everything out of my house. Don't ever come back." She turned on her heel and walked towards her room. Tears silently fell down her cheek.

Immaturely she ran out of the dining room and into her bedroom, slamming the door. She fumbled pulling out her phone. She quickly dialed her brother's phone. By the time it was ringing she had cried completely. He picked up on the fourth ring.

"Clare-bear, what's wrong?" She tried to talk but it came out inaudible. She wiped tears away as she barely managed to asked him to come visit her between sobs. How he understood her Clary had no idea. She sat on her fluffy carpet leaning against her bed and staring at her wall while waiting for him to reach her. It was a four-five hour drive but she didn't mind waiting. In fact, she had ran out of tears by the time he pulled into the driveway. Moving her head for the first time since she called she glanced at her clock. It read 1:05 a.m.

Gripping her bed Clary pulled herself up and walked to the front door. She opened it for Seb and looked at her feet. After an awkward silence Clary looked up. One look at her eyes and Seb gave her a hug. His towering frame consumed her but Clary needed the bear hug. She broke away and silently pulled him towards her room. She turned her head towards him and put up her index finger to her mouth signaling him that Jocelyn was sleeping as they neared the hallway with all rooms branching off it.

She opened her bedroom door to him and he walked in. He sat down on her bed the same way Sebastian had since they had moved into the house. Clary sat down in his lap and looped her arms around him. He rested his chin upon her crown and sighed. "Why did you make me come here?" He felt Clary tense up but relax quickly after. Sighing as well, Clary looked up at him. Her eyes were full of sorrow. They were so sad it broke his heart. Clary's eyes had always betrayed her and showed her feelings. Shaking slightly as if she might cry again Clary spoke. It was barely audible. "I've screwed up Sebastian. I've screwed up really bad."

* * *

It was the last day of school. Seniors were celebrating and saying good-byes. Juniors were laughing at the seniors even though they would be doing the same thing. Sophomores were dancing with joy that they were finally upperclassmen. Freshman were dancing with glee that they had survived their first year in high school. Clary wasn't celebrating though. Instead she was packing up her locker. She pulled off photos of her and Aline, her and Seb, and her and Jocelyn. She didn't dwell on the pictures though. It would just remind her of her screw up and how Jocelyn wanted nothing to do with Clary.

Aline leaned up against the locker next to Clary's. She held the small box full of Clary's memories. She eyed Clary as she pulled out a photo album. She burst out giggling and it was time for Clary to eye her. "What's so funny?"

Aline giggled for a few more minutes and nodded her head to the album. Clary set it down and pulled the box away from Aline. She pushed it out of her way as she dragged Aline and herself to the ground. Somehow she had picked up the album again. They sat side by side and opened it.

The first page was a dedication page. It had a photo of them at their eighth grade prom. Clary remembered the night perfectly. She didn't want to go but Aline had practically shoved her into the prom. What surprised Clary was that she actually had a lot of fun. There was a note written under the photo. It said the cliche things. We'll always be BFFs. I love you. My sister from another mister. But what touched her the most was she knew that Aline meant everything she said.

They sat turning page after page. There were photos of them growing up as close as the sun and the moon. It had always been like that. In a weird way Aline and Clary really were sisters in anything but blood. They stopped turning at a page with them in Girl Scout uniforms. They sat side by side laughing surrounded by cookies.

"That was horrible!" Clary laughed as she silently agreed.

Aline turned and looked at her best friend who was crying. Both of them were oblivious to a certain blonde watching them. Clary hastily wiped her tears away and stood. After helping pull Aline up, they hugged. Aline picked up the box for Clary as she closed her now empty locker for the last time. They started down the crowded hallway towards where Sebastian was picking Clary up.

* * *

Jace watched as the one girl who broke his heart packed up her locker. Either she was cleaning it out and planned on redecorating in the fall or she was moving. He had so many mixed feelings about Clary. He hated her guts for using him but also when Imogen gave him the scholarship to his dream school, she had told him that his redheaded friend was the one who asked her to come.

He was at first in denial. Why would Clary help him? Then he went on to thinking and then slowly realized she was the only redhead at school. So unless someone had dyed their hair, or it really was Clary who called the scouts at Cornell. Thinking about her made his heart ache. It would ache in the way that only Clary would make his heart ache.

He narrowed his eyes as she hugged her best friend on the floor. Tears were clear on her face. He strained his ears to eavesdrop as the two girls walked past him.

"-it's for the best Aline. And I also haven't seen Sebastian for more than a few days in years. I promise I'll call you once I get to the campus."

Jace started following them outside to the parking lot. Luckily for him, his car was there so it wouldn't be obvious that he was stalking Clary. She walked up to a sleek black convertible Mustang. A dark-haired boy who looked about college age was in the driver's seat. From what he heard earlier, Jace inferred that this man was Sebastian.

He got out and gave Clary a hug which she gratefully accepted. So Clary was sleeping with a college kid? Jace certainly wouldn't put it past her. From the way the two's body language was, Jace could tell that they were extremely close.

He tried to shrug it off. He opened the door to his car and turned the A/C on full blast. He watched the show known as that bimbo as she put her box in the car and gave her friend another hug. He did not know however that this was the last time he would willingly see her for two years.

* * *

Clary sat in the passenger seat of Seb's Mustang. It smelled of his weird spicy cologne. She had her earphones on and the iPod in her lap on full volume. Ironically, Acapella by Karmin came on. It was funny how the lyrics were close to what she was feeling. She hummed along to the song.

_Used to be your baby, used to be your lady_  
_Thought you were the perfect lover_  
_All the harmony went fallin' out of key, so_  
_Now you gotta find another_  
_Now you're talkin' crazy, sayin' that you made me_  
_Like I was your Cinderella_  
_You and me are through though, watch me hit it solo_  
_I'mma do it acapella, yeah _  
_I'mma do it acapella, yeah_

_Once upon a time, I met the perfect guy_  
_He had that Colgate smile, he had that suit & tie_  
_Mama always said "get a rich boyfriend,_  
_You don't gotta love 'em, girl, you can pretend"_  
_You bet I totes believed her, yeah, every word she said_  
_Thought he was gluten-free, but all that I got was bread_  
_Mama always said "nice guys finish last,_  
_Beat him at his own game, honey, take the cash"_

By the Angel, how many times had she thought Jace was perfect too?

_Ooh, and what a lucky girl you will be_  
_But no, he didn't do jack for me_  
_I want a bean with the beanstalk_  
_And if the magic ain't right, time to walk_

_Used to be your baby, used to be your lady_  
_Thought you were the perfect lover_  
_All the harmony went fallin' out of key, so_  
_Now you gotta find another_  
_Now you're talkin' crazy sayin' that you made me_  
_Like I was your Cinderella_  
_You and me are through though, watch me hit it solo_  
_I'mma do it acapella, yeah_  
_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_  
_I'mma do it acapella, yeah_

_Out on our first date, he took me gourmet_  
_We hit that Olive Garden, my Little Italy_  
_Daddy always said "let the gentleman pay,_  
_Never ever go Dutch at the buffet"_  
_I saw his bad intention, he didn't wanna talk_  
_He put the saucy on it (Oops!) time to check my watch_  
_Daddy always said "money can't buy class,_  
_You don't wanna get stuck takin' out trash"_

She felt stupid when she recounted how easy Jace had made her swoon.

_Ooh, and yeah I guess it wasn't meant to be_  
_But no, he didn't do jack for me_  
_I want a bean with the beanstalk_  
_And if the magic ain't right, time to walk_

_Used to be your baby, used to be your lady_  
_Thought you were the perfect lover_  
_All the harmony went fallin' out of key, so_  
_Now you gotta find another_  
_Now you're talkin' crazy sayin' that you made me_  
_Like I was your Cinderella_  
_You and me are through though, watch me hit it solo_  
_I'mma do it acapella_

_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_  
_I'mma do it acapella_  
_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_  
_Watch me do it in falsetta_  
_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_  
_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_  
_Never mind, bring the beat back_

_Used to be your baby, used to be your lady_  
_Thought you were the perfect lover_  
_All the harmony went fallin' out of key, so_  
_Now you gotta find another_  
_Now you're talkin' crazy sayin' that you made me_  
_Like I was your Cinderella_  
_You and me are through though, watch me hit it solo_  
_I'mma do it acapella_  
_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_  
_I'mma do it acapella, yeah_

Sebastian pushed a button as the roof of the car clicked back into place but not before a fat raindrop landed on Clary's cheek. Sebastian turned and looked at her before gently wiping the raindrop off of her face. The problem was that Clary couldn't tell if she really had been shot by rain or if she was crying for the millionth time.

She quickly changed the song to something upbeat. Instead she was greeted by "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars then "Clarity" by Zedd. Frustrated, Clary pulled her earbuds out and threw them onto the floorboard with her iPod.

Why was every song she shuffled some sad, sappy break-up song? They just kept reminding Clary of her biggest mistake. It was as if karma was having a party screwing up Clary's life. She pulled her feet up and formed the fetal position.

Sebastian looked at her with worry evident.

"Clare-bear, is everything okay?"

She looked over her knees at him before taking a deep breath.

"I'm fine Seb. I'm just nervous for the fall. I've never moved out-of-state and started school with complete strangers before unlike you."

He laughed and with a free hand ruffled her hair. She gave him a melodramatic sigh before pulling down her mirror and fixing the messy top knot she had twisted her hair into after an hour in the car. She also took the chance to actually look at herself.

Her eyes were bright with color and life, her cheeks were rosy, and the dark circles that had plagued her were gone. Maybe moving away from New York and Jace was the best thing for her. For once in the past few months, Clary actually looked like a normal teenage girl. she didn't look like the depressed slump but blithely happy.

* * *

Clary sat in the hard chair. She had been waiting for thirty minutes at the saloon. Finally a girl walked over to her and started prepping Clary. She slid the strange plastic cover onto Clary's slim body and started washing her hair. The first few minutes were silent, the only noise being the hairdresser's gum popping. Finally, the girl set to brushing out the damp hair and asked Clary the usual questions.

"So what made you dye your hair honey bun? If I had red hair as fiery as yours I would have never dyed it a frumpy brunette."

Clary went on to tell her that she was tired of bullying and wanted to be 'normal' for once. The woman nodded as she started the treatment that would strip the brown dye from her hair. It was only supposed to take an hour but due to the wait time Clary had been at the place for two.

The process was quick and she was out of the place in what seemed a few minutes. Clary pulled her sunglasses on and started the walk towards Seb's apartment. She slid earbuds in and started her latest playlist. Ever since the incident on the way here Clary had done some serious editing to the playlists.

Clary had made her way into the apartment building when a noise made her look up. She saw a group of guys moving stuff into the apartment a few doors down from her summer boarding. One came out and Clary immediately pulled herself into an alcove. She hid in the shadows until the boy and his friends were going downstairs.

Clary ran to apartment 1102 and put her key and the door. She swung it open as soon as the lock clicked and bolted it back up as soon as she was back inside. Clary sunk down to the floor. Her butt grew instantly cold from the chilly tiles. But that wasn't why she had shivered. Alec was moving in a few doors down. and wherever Alec was, Jace was never far behind. That could only mean one thing. The Lightwoods were her new neighbor.

* * *

**So there goes Chapter 1 :) I hope everyone likes it. Once again I am going to disclaim even though I hate it. ***All names belong to Cassie Clare and the characters belong to dayuuuumgirl. I only own the plot from this fanfic.*** Now onto some other news.**

**1. I want you to review and let me know if you want either-**

**(A) Longer chapters- about 3,000 to 4,000 words- but only updated a few times a year or**

**(B) Short chapters- about 1,000 to 2,000 words- updated about 2/3 times a month.**

**The reason why I won't update that often is because I'm in the middle of my other fanfic, The One Who Got Away, at the moment and I plan on finishing it before October so I'll be busy writing it.**

**2. I also want you to review and let me know what you think about it overall.**

**3. There is no Sizzy in this story. I love that ship but it would destroy a huge chunk of the story's plot if I made them a couple in this story.**


	2. Prolouge Part 2

Clary was just sitting on her bed admiring the view of the sunset when she heard Seb's voice. he had been gone all day. In his absence she had: baked cupcakes, gave herself a mani/pedi, tried 5 different new hairstyles, sketched over half of her new sketchbook, and then stalked the Facebook page of her new school. she sighed and walked out of her room and into the kitchen. There she found her brother and her worst nightmare.

"Clare-bear, you're here?" Clary looked at her brother and gave him a quick nod. She reached around him and picked up one of the previously mentioned pastries. She took a bite of the cupcake so that she wouldn't burst into tears.

"The art classes were canceled today due to the storm." he just nodded and she started to walk out and away. Clary had cleared about two yards when Sebastian stopped her.

"Do you know Alec? He's our new neighbor. Came from New York too. In fact, same school as you." Clary looked at Alec and gave him the once-over. She then looked at her brother with an eyebrow raised.

"I've never met him before in my life. I'm sorry. Should I know you?" Alec was caught off guard by this. He stepped back and opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Finally he instead channeled his inner Jace and shot Clary a pick up line. As quick as he had finished saying it, Clary had already slapped him hard.

"You bitch!" Clary just shrugged as he shouted profanities. He rubbed his red cheek. Seb gave Clary an annoyed look but said nothing. Instead he mouthed to her 'later'. Clary plucked another cupcake since her previous one had fell on the floor. While Seb gave Alec some frozen peas and apologized, Clary headed to her room and locked the room. She changed out of the designer outfit into some shorts and a oversized sweatshirt.

It was strange how now she would have to get use to being a snob. For all Clary knew at the moment, slapping Alec would be the last time she would be able to actually act on impulse. Now she would have to become Clarissa Garroway, daughter of the famous billionaire Luke Garroway. That ensured that she would go to a snobby academy and that people will want her for her fortune.

Clary was pulled out of her thoughts by pounding on her door. She was going to ignore it when she heard Seb's angry voice. He was never mad at her. Cautiously Clary opened the door. She smiled meekly as she saw his red face. He really was angry.

"I made cupcakes." He didn't react but instead kept staring at her. Clary gave up on calming him down and walked towards her bed. She threw herself into the pillows. Sighing, Sebastian came and sat next to her.

"Why did you slap him Clary?" She pulled her face out of the fluffy items and looked at him with a wide open mouth. She gave him a hard glare before she sat up and went to her window seat.

"I haven't even known him for even ten minutes and that asshat already tried to make a move on me." She gave her brother the best puppy dog face which she knew made him feel guilty. His hard expression fell. Clary felt a small amount of pride in her chest. She had always been able to get out of trouble with Seb.

He exhaled and put his face in his palms. The pride that she had earlier felt was now replaced by guilt. Her brother had given her the other room in his apartment. He didn't have to take her in after Jocelyn threw her out. In fact, she realized, Clary didn't really deserve anything that he had done for her. She got up and this time sat next to him.

"I'm sorry Seb. I shouldn't have slapped him. It's just that-" Clary was silenced before she could explain herself.

"It's just what Clary? That you are always judging people before you know them? Tell me what it is then."

She sat staring at her feet. Even though she was close to him, Clary had never felt farther away from her brother.

She got up from the bed and grabbed a photo frame off of her dresser. It was taken when she was 3 and he had been 7. She cast a longing glance at him. She gave him the photo before returning to the window seat. Rain had started once again.

"Why can't everything be simple again Seb?" Even though she had barely said anything she knew Seb understood. Why wouldn't everything be simple the way it was back when they were kids? Why was change necessary?

They sat like that in silence, the only sound coming from raindrops on her windows. Clary pulled her knees up and rested her chins onto them. She would occasionally look at her brother but he wouldn't look at her. Eventually a loud ringing went off. Clary picked up her phone and read the text. It was from Luke.

_Hey kiddo. Can't wait for August- L._

She sighed and hoped that Seb didn't hear her. He had been against her moving with Luke but slowly growing towards the idea. The last thing Clary needed at the moment was to rub it into his face again what she was doing.

* * *

It had been a month ago when she had slapped Alec. Ever since it had happened, she and Seb were falling apart. Awkward silence followed them wherever they went. It was the black cloud on a May day. It was literally sharp enough to cut. It was cutting the bond Clary had always shared with Sebastian.

Clary put the tape on her last box. She was moving out yet again. Clary picked the box up and handed it to her dad's butler. Once he disappeared around the corner she turned to her brother. He was watching from the doorway. She wobbled slightly in the sky-high wedges she had started wearing. Her legs slightly wobbled but not from the shoes.

She took a deep breath as she stood in front of him. Tears threatened to spill but she forced them not to. It would make the three hours getting makeup and hair pointless to ruin them now. She involuntarily wiped her cheek.

She stood in front of Seb. "So I guess this is goodbye?" He gave her a nod. She looked at him. Clary wanted to say so many things to him. Finally she turned to leave but stopped at the top of the stairs. "Bye Sebastian. And don't worry, I'll stay out of your life from now on."

She had made it halfway down the stairs when Seb jogged up to her. He gave her a bone crushing hug.

"Call me once you reach Cali Clare-bear. I love you." When he spoke these words, a rogue tear escaped. He lifted his calloused thumb and wiped it away. His large palm covered half of her face. She smiled at him. It wasn't a forced smile but a genuine one.

"I love you too Seb. And I promise to call you." She gave him a peck on the cheek and set off towards the silver BMW awaiting her. she opened the door but turned to look back. She saw Seb give her a wave and she returned it. Then her eyes wandered over and she was met with cold, deep blue eyes. she practically dove into the car. she looked out the darkly tinted windows.

Clary blew a kiss towards the last remainder of her normal life, the life that she had been living for sixteen years. she then focused her attention to her chauffeur.

"Hi. My name is Clarissa." The man in the driver's seat gave her a hearty laugh. When he spoke, he sounded like old parchment crackling and Clary guessed he was elder.

"My name is Charles but my friends call me Charlie." Clary gave him a small laugh. He continued his statistics. "We should arrive at the airport in about forty minutes then your flight is six hours. You will arrive in LA at 11 eastern time or 7 Pacific time." Clary leaned back in her seat and thanked him. The rest of the ride was followed by silence.

Finally, the hour passed and she arrived at the airport. Clary expected to have to go through the crowds but was surprised that she was ushered through the lines for private planes. She breezed through all of the security clearances and was led to a plane. It didn't have the American Airlines logo on it so she turned to Charlie, eyes full of confusion.

"Your father owns his own jet. He thought it would be more comfortable to take it instead." She walked up the stairs and into the sitting area. Clary's jaw dropped.

It was beautiful. She skimmed her fingers along the soft white leather seats. There were floral arrangements that seemed to be fresh placed around the room. She practically ran to sit in the seat in the back corner next to the restrooms. The seat was so much more she realized. They had built in warmers and massage settings. There was a flat screen TV built into a wall in front of her. She realized with a jolt that the seats were more like mini rooms. She then noticed that only that seat and one in the other back corner had these walls with a TV.

Clary continued looking around the plane. She were sure her eyes were wide. She was essentially a kid in a candy store for all that mattered. She looked down at the floors when she spotted it. There was a plug to charge phones with in the wall! Clary wanted to scream at how spoiled she felt. This plane was absolutely incredible.

He explained that they were the crew. They all told her their name and she shook their hands in return. Clary then went to introduce herself.

"I'm-" she stopped herself before she said Clary. From now on she was Clarissa, not Clary. "I'm Clarissa. It's a pleasure to meet you all." The pilots left to start the flight and the attendants instructed her on pre-flight tasks. Put on your seatbelt, turn off electronics, etc. She honestly had tuned them out and turned her attention to the breathtaking view below her. The city lights were like fireflies, small but bright. She unbuckled herself and pulled out her sketchbook. In it she started the gorgeous landscape and quickly finished. Bored, Clary put the sketchbook away.

Eventually Clary turned to listening to music and started reading her favorite book at the moment, Beautiful Creatures. She was to the part where Lena explains to Ethan that she's a castor. That's when she spotted it. Her favorite quote.

_"Maybe sometimes a hurricane is just a hurricane, Lena."_

It reminded Clary that sometimes that things may seem to be your fault but sometimes they really aren't. That they are completely natural. But what happened to Jace was her fault. It wasn't natural. She felt like Lena. She was the hurricane that had destroyed Jace's life.

Enough for depressing thoughts. She returned to the book. When she finally looked up it was because the attendants informed her that they were landing. She put the mandatory seatbelt on and started packing her stuff into the bag she brought. The plane landed and three people got on and came up to her. They introduced themselves as her hair and makeup team. Within the ten minutes it took to get her luggage off, Clary had been patched up. she got up and started to tremble. What if Luke didn't like her?

She walked down the stairs this time nervously. Once she touched the pavement Clary looked to see a single car. It was a sleek black SUV. A man opened the door and got out. He looked at Clary and she did the same vice versa. Even from 50 feet away she recognized him. This was Luke, her father.

She started walking to him like a normal person but broke into a run. She reached him then threw her arms around him. She buried her face into his jacket. A single tear rolled down her face. Finally she had met the man who had help conceive her. Finally she had met the man her mother had left for a false hope of fame. "Hi daddy." She had whispered the words so low that Clary wasn't sure that Luke had heard her.

"Hi Clarissa." She felt him smiling as he returned her greeting.

* * *

**Hello. So here's another chapter :) For anyone who reads my other story, don't worry. I have chapter 11 written and is currently being edited by my beta for that story.**

**On other hands, I have to thank my amazing beta for this story. So thank you soooooo much ShadowhuntingDamphir2014. Without her this chapter would be a giant mess. Also, she keeps spamming my PM inbox to hurry and write more chapters. So that's why this is up so quickly. **

**Next, I know that this chapter is way shorter than chapter 1 but I was rushed to get it done (*looks at SD2014* O.o). Still, this will be about the average length of chapters for awhile.**

**Also, thank you so much for the reviews. It's really awesome to see that a lot of you are interested in where this is going. And to **rcs17**, ** **, **finediver**, **MarenGab**, **ShadowhuntingDamphir 2014**, ** **,**** and **ClarissaxJace **who added this to their favorites, you get a virtual cookie! (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

**Now I don't want to demand reviews but just saying, More Reviews= Happier Me= More Chapters Written= Happier You.**

**Finally, I want to inform everyone that we will get to meet the Cali Clary in the next chapter! In the summary I mentioned that it was two years after TKD but to clarify, chapters one and two are like an alternate path than what happens in the original story. They are the summer after Clary's sophomore year. Chapter three and after will be the main time. That makes the previous ones are the prologue I guess.**

**Until later, SVM17**


	3. Summer of Reconnections

**So now that the back story is done I can finally do the summer after Clary's senior year! Yay! So without further ado...**

* * *

Clary pulled the key out of the ignition and applied a fresh coat of lip gloss. She hastily fixed the rest of her makeup as well. She then opened her door. The cool winds of New York were all around her. She walked the familiar path to her brother's apartment. She took 2 stairs at a time and was quickly in front of Seb's door. She knocked on it twice before she started examining her nails. If she was going to see Seb then she didn't want to seem nervous. A strange boy opened the door.

"Who are you?" Clary pushed him aside and walked in. She started untying her scarf.

"Where's Sebastian? I'm 99.9% positive he misses his baby sister." The guy gave her a skeptical look but didn't stop her. Clary strode through the hallways and found herself in front of his bedroom door. She then started pounding. He opened it up a few minutes later. Seb's dark hair was in its usual mess-upped look and he was rubbing his eyes. A loud yawn escaped from his mouth. He finally opened his eyes and took a good look at Clary.

"Clary?" her name came out more of a question than a statement. She held up her hand to him. "I go by Clarissa now." He just gave her another hard look. He then wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a hug. For the first few seconds she resisted but slowly relaxed and put her arms around him. She awkwardly patted him on the back.

They pulled away from each other and he gave her the laughed as he remarked on how she actually grew. Clary then laughed as she told him about the wonders of high-heeled shoes.

He led her into the living room where the guy from earlier was. He seemed to relax a little as he saw Seb's friendly demeanor. He walked over and held his hand out to Clary. "Hi, I'm Justin."

She took it and returned the handshake. "I'm Clarissa."

They ended up sitting down and chatting for a while. After a few hours Justin got up and left leaving Clary alone with her brother. She went and sat on his lap and gave him her puppy-dog face.

"Please come to California with me. It's so much more fun there and it's sunnier and warmer and just better." Sebastian just shook his head. They ended up arguing about why he should/shouldn't go. Clary always won But this time he had terms she didn't like.

"Why do you have to bring your friends? Am I not good enough company? Or is it just that you want to be stubborn?"

Seb laughed and ruffled her hair which she immediately fixed. Seb then proceed to inform her that he was the mellow one while she was the stubborn sibling. Clary gave him a scowl and turned on the TV. She was channel surfing for thirty minutes before Clary gave up. She decided to sleep instead. Clary grabbed the blanket she used on the plane when traveling out of her bag and bunch up. She was finally slipping in unconsciousness when someone knocked.

"No one's home!" She shouted at the door. When the knocking didn't stop she answered the door herself. She expected to see Alec but instead met a tall guy with golden hair and amber eyes. He was shirtless and Clary could see the lean body covered in muscles and a strange but hypnotizing tattoo made of thick and thin swirling black lines.

"Who are you?" In her mind it was a stupid question but she wanted to learn more about this guy. He gave her a crooked grin and leaned against the door frame.

"Sebastian's secret lover." Why was he lying? Seb wasn't gay.

"No you're not."

"And how would you know?"

"I'm his sister." He then pushed past her into the apartment.

"I got a text from him saying something along the lines of a free trip to Cali for the summer. Alec was sleeping so I decided that I should come over for the details. And may I add by the way, you don't have to be ashamed that I caught you and Sebastian. He's not gay so you can drop the sister act."

She gave him a murderous glare as she closed the door. Seb then choose to walk in. He chuckled as he took in the view of douchey neighbor and pissed-off sister._ Yep, they've met_. He thought to himself. Clary moved around Jace and went to grab her stuff. She threw everything into a bag and proceeded to tell Sebastian that she was going back to New York City.

"But you just got here clare-bear!" He hoped his whining would convince her to stay but instead he was rewarded with her stare that could cut glass. Clary spat out a venomous 'so' before she grabbed her car keys and walked outside. He narrowly missed being hit by the slamming door as he chased her. He was stopped when he saw Clary walking towards a Rolls Royce that seemed to come just off the lot. He whistled and very carefully asked Clary,

"Did you buy this?"

Clary let out a chuckle and turned towards him. He saw instead of his Clary the "Cali Clary" she was when she had a wall up. "Of course I did. Clarissa Garroway doesn't rent cars. She buys them." Clary opened her door and went to sit in the driver's seat but in one swift movement Seb was in the passenger seat.

"What are you doing!?" she shrieked at him. Seb gave her a shrug and buckled up. Clary sat in her passenger seat just staring at this guy who was supposed to be her brother. He was fidgeting with her radio and completely oblivious to her scarlet face.

Clary threw her hands up and screamed at him, "SEBASTIAN HENRY VERLAC, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY CAR NOW!" (1)

He just shrugged and leaned over Clary, shutting her door. He then turned the key and looked at his very colorful sister. "Are you done throwing a temper tantrum yet?"

Clary then proceeded to give him some very unladylike names and even a very inappropriate hand gesture. He held his hand up to his mouth and gave her a very melodramatic gasp. "Clare-bear, since when do you cuss?"

Clary gave him a pointed look than sped out of the parking lot and onto the interstate. When she finally answered, it was as quiet as a church mouse. "Since my heart as broken."

Seb gave her a look but said nothing. They continued in silence for about half of the trip when Seb suddenly sprang awake and remembered something. If not for the seatbelt, he would have jumped up and gone through the windshield. He grabbed his phone and Clary was grateful she hadn't turned on music. She strained her ear to listen in on what made him so jumpy.

It turned out to just be him calling Jace and making sure that Jace locked up the apartment once he left. Something about you can't rely on Justin.

"So why did you call Jace?" Seb gave her a questioning look across the dark car.

"I never said Jace's name. How did you know that's who I was calling, or more importantly, who Jace is?" Her mouth went dry. She had forgotten that Seb didn't introduce them. Clary immediately back pedaled in her head and try to muster a believable lie. When none came to mind she gave him a snippet of truth mixed in with more falsity.

"Just because I didn't know who Alec was in high school doesn't mean I don't recognize Jace. When you meet someone as obnoxious as Jace, it's hard to forget an ego that big."

He narrowed his eyes at Clary. "Clare-bear, are you sure that's why you remember Jace? It's not because he... well, did he..." As Seb struggled to find words Clary gave him what seemed the umpteenth ice glare. It wasn't because he was asking if Jace and Clary had ever hooked-up, but that he was close to figuring out her secret.

Clary then unexpectedly jerked the wheel right then relaxed it back after Seb hit his head on the window. Seb gave her a strange look but she just shrugged it off. "There were some badgers."

Finally the skyscrapers of NYC came into view. It was beautiful because as they neared, the sunrise (2) behind them made the city seem a watercolor painting. Clary used her free hand and pulled a camera out of her purse. She passed it to her brother and ordered him to take a photo. From the power in her voice he didn't hesitate to obey.

Once entering the city, she parked her car in a garage and started walking. He had no trouble keeping sight of her or her quick pace until the walked into the throng at Times Square. Even though it was early, tourists were everywhere. Her vibrant red hair disappeared among the continuous wave of people. He silently started thinking of places she could have went.

There was their mother's house but he won't forget how she cried over being disowned and removed from Jocelyn's will. And then he would think of Jocelyn, how she had told him the previous Christmas that she hoped she never saw Clary again when he brought the subject up.

Then there was Aline but he wasn't sure where she lived. He then pulled out his phone and Googled her. After scrolling through links, he finally was able to produce an address. he quickly followed this discovery with getting directions. He started out the trek by walking but soon started running. He had to make it there before she did.

The directions lead him to a plain brownstone. He walked up the stairs and knocked. A willowy blonde girl opened the door. Seb didn't remember much about Clary's old friend but he was positive that she wasn't willowy or blonde. The girl stuck her hand out.

"I'm Helen Blackthorne. Can I help you?"

He nodded and asked about Aline. The blonde- Helen- led him into the entryway and instructed him to sit. A few minutes later a short slightly asian girl with blue eyes and black hair came down the stairs towards him. She stopped in front of him and a smile appeared on her face. She squealed and jumped in place. "Sebastian! If you're here then Clary has to be! Where is she?"

Her smile fell as Seb told her that he was actually looking for her himself.

* * *

Clary didn't know where she was going. When she slipped away from Seb, she didn't actually have a destination in mind. Now as she sat in the dry grass, she couldn't tear her eyes off the boys running and laughing along the soccer field. It was the same place that she had sat in a little over two years ago as she watched her first heartbreak achieve his dreams. It was also the same place where she had come right before she left. The memory was clear in her mind.

_Clary sat in a fetal position. Her back was rubbing uncomfortably against the tree bark but it didn't matter. she kept rubbing her fingers over the necklace Val had given her as a going away gift. He claimed it was from him and Jocelyn but his eyes gave him away. She knew that it was only from him. still, it was a sweet thought. Something Clary had never expected, _especially_ from Valentine. She was positive that the comedy and tragedy face were probably worn and faded from how much she had been rubbing it._

Clary snapped out of her memories and found herself absentmindedly rubbing the necklace again. She had yet to take it off since Valentine put it on her (3) the night before she left for the month at Cornell. She looked down at the tiny masks. They still were a dull bronze color but she still loved it. Clary then took a deep breath and mentally started putting memories like her most recent one in a box tucked into the corner of her mind. She found that if she just ignored it and didn't acknowledge the memory, it would eventually fade if not become forgotten completely.

When she got up from the grass, the sun was high in the sky. She must have been hiding in the park for longer than she thought. her feet were asleep so it took a few tentative steps to become stable in her shoes. She then looked down and realized she was still in the sweatpants and loose top she had worn last night to go to sleep. Clary was suddenly grateful for the hoodie she had brought. She zipped it up and started walking towards the local Starbucks. (4)

The story smelt like roasted coffee beans and the line was surprisingly short. She went up and ordered a vanilla bean creme frappuccino and then some petite vanilla bean scones. As she made her way to the area to pick her coffee up, a voice surprised her.

"Clary? Clary Fray?"

The voice belonged to a dark haired boy who looked to be her age. He had brown eyes and something about him was familiar. She turned her head to the side a little then felt sick. A feeling of sickly sweet orange soda raining down on her hit Clary like a brick wall. Then she was able to place the guy perfectly.

She gave him a small smile then addressed him. "Simon Lewis. Almost didn't recognize you without the glasses."

He gave her a genuine smile as he passed her the drink. He then looked around at the near empty cafe. He then leaned against the counter and spoke to his friend. "Dude, I'm taking my break. Cover me."

He then walked out from behind the counter and lead Clary to a booth in the corner. "Can we talk Clary? It would be nice to catch up. No one knew where you went after sophomore year."

Clary slid into the booth and gave him a shrug. "I moved. Tired of being bullied-" she gave him a quick, pointed look- " and there was too much drama for my likes. So I moved to California. Malibu in fact." He gave her another genuine smile. She was quickly learning that when he wasn't making her life living hell, he was actually pretty cool.

They sat and talked for a few minutes until he had to go and return to making coffee.

Before he left though, clary put her hand on his arm. She gave him one of her signature flirty smiles and asked him, "Can I have your number Simon? It's been actually pretty cool talking to you again." He suddenly looked nervous but it was replaced by a mask of coolness. He flashed a smile then wrote it down on a napkin. She took it from him and gave Simon a quick peck on the cheek.

As she was leaving the store, she shot him a wink and told him, "I'll call you."

Clary left the coffee shop with butterflies in her stomach. It was a strange feeling. She hadn't been nervous to call a guy since Jace. Clary once again was so lost in thought that she didn't notice until it was almost too late that she was walking up the steps to her mother's house.

**This is going to be a very long author's note. Here are the explanations of the numbers in parenthesis.**

**(1) So I kept Sebastian's last name Verlac and here is the reason:**

**Jocelyn was more "easy" in my story than she was in the books. In high school got around with more guys. And like all girls like that in high school, Jocelyn became pregnant with Seb. Like most couples, she thought he would stay and they decided that when he was born that he would receive the father's last name. Jocelyn didn't have the heart to give baby Seb up or to change the last name so it stuck as Verlac. However, she got around (AGAIN) with Luke when she was in college. (Sebastian was 4.) **

**And then that's how Clary was conceived but Jocelyn left him in hopes of becoming famous. So when she finally gave birth to Clary, Luke was gone. That is why for a while Clary had Fray as her last name. Whenever Jocelyn kicked her out and Clary reconnected with Luke, she changed her last name to Garroway because she didn't want to associate herself with Jocelyn.**

**Sorry for that super longish backstory that might have been irrelevant but I felt the need to let y'all know why Seb is Sebastian Verlac and not Sebastian Fray. And also, if any of you readers are offended by how I described teenage moms, I'm sorry but I find it sad how many girls have to drop out of school because of it. It's also embarrassing to think that millions of girls do get pregnant at early ages. I'm a firm believer in getting married first, then children.**

**(2) It's roughly a 5 hour drive from Cornell to NYC. When they had left his apartment it was around 1 am. Hope this clarifies why they are looking at the sunrise.**

**(3) In this fanfic she doesn't hate Valentine. Consider it a cruel, ironic joke that Clary is nicer towards Valentine then her mother.**

**(4) I do not own Starbucks or any other brand mentioned in this story.**

**So my beta is being lazy and refused to edit this chapter so sorry for any mistakes or if it's crappy.**

**Other news, I want more reviews. I got like 15 on chapter one but 4 on chapter 2... Reviews makes the author update more.**

**Keep being awesome. To my new favoriter, Huntress3419, you get a cookie! (::)**

**til later, SVM17**


	4. Summer of Airplanes

**Hi :) So I wanted to explain something EVERYONE keeps asking me before the next chapter- Why didn't Jace recognize Clary?**

**Here's why: In TKD, Clary had died her hair brunette and she never wore make-up so that's how Jace saw her. But once she had left and moved in with Sebastian, she went to a saloon and got the dye removed so now she had red hair again. Then in California, she changed in a lot of ways. She started wearing makeup, she goes by a different name (Jace only knew her by Clary, not Clarissa), and she dresses differently (Tighter, shorter clothes because she used to wear only loose and comfy). Plus, it's been two years since each of them have seen the other. **

**Mind you though, Alec knows ^.^ I tried to do a little sneak peek when he talked to Clary in chapter 2. Now onto chapter 4...**

* * *

Clary was enjoying the scenery as she made her way back to the park. She keep trying to remind herself that it's okay that she chickened out of seeing Jocelyn. She was so caught up in her mind that she didn't notice the two figures in her spot at the tree. One was a tall, broad guy with dark hair and fair skin. The other was definitely feminine, with a slim frame and long black hair. Her skin was slightly tan though. Clary recognized the two immediately. That's when she turned on her heels and headed back to the busy streets.

Unfortunately, her childhood confidant turned and saw her receding. Clary gave up when the high voice of her old friend called her name out.

"Clary! I've missed you so much!" She nearly fell from the impact of Aline's hug. Luckily she had caught herself. The same couldn't be said for the poor Frappuchino in her left went tumbling to the ground and exploded all over her leg and Aline's back. Even though she was excited to see Aline, she couldn't help but scream.

"My Frappuchino! That was the last of my loose cash!" She squealed. It wasn't that Clary knew it was an accident, but at times like this was when the plastic brat came out of her.

Aline held her back at arm's length. "I'm so sorry Clary! I'll buy you another one and you can wash your pants at my apartment and... and..-" Before she could continue freaking out, Clary held her palm up. "It's fine."

Clary returned the hug and tore off her jacket. She tied it around her waist. Hopefully no one- correction no _paparazzi_- would see the vanilla creme on her leg. Sebastian came towards her. "Maybe we should get you cleaned up Clare-bear. I'm sorry but someone has to tell you that Starbucks is _so_ not your color."

Clary let out a snort, then covered her mouth. She had never snorted. her eyes bulged. What was happening to her? She had to get out of New York soon. The two eyed her carefully.

"Whatever. I have Dad's credit card. I'll just buy a new pair. And I've been itching to checkout the new Burberry store." This just made the two stare at her as if she had a concussion. "What? Did some of the Frappuchino get on my face?"

They both laughed at her serious expression. It only made her scrunch her face up in confusion even more. What were they laughing at? Finally Aline answered her questions.

"Who are you and what have you done with the Clary I know? She absolutely hated shopping, and hated designer brands even more." Clary gave them an ice look and walked away. Who did they think the were to judge her and tell Clary who she was? The two realized after a few minutes she was being serious and went after Clary.

By the time they actually caught up, Clary was walking inside. She had been greeted by assistants and was already pulling tons of clothes in her size, having them taken back to a dressing room. She caught a glimpse of the two watching her and scowled.

Once in the safety of the dressing room, she took of the pants and threw them away. By now they were starting to smell funny. She grabbed the first pair of jeans and pulled them on. Since they just so happened to be skinny jeans, she had to jump around to get them to slid over her hips comfortably. Luckily they did wonders to her tiny bottom and made her legs slimmer and longer. She then yanked the tag off and stripped off her shirt.

The top she picked out also worked wonders to her figure. It was a pretty peach that made her hair more vivid then ever. It was low cut but it looked sleek instead of trampy. She also ripped the tag off of it. She looked out at the shoes waiting for her. All were seven inch heels. After trying all of them on, she settled for some cute nude ones. She then opened the door and waved her hand for the shop girl.

She had bounced over to Clary and was practically bursting to help her. Clary gave the girl a bored expression and gave her the tags from her ensemble. "This will be it." The girl took Clary to a counter and swiped the tags. As she turned to ask for payment, Clary handed her the plastic card. Within five minutes she was out in the big city again.

* * *

Clary was in Seb's kitchen, impatiently tapping her foot. It made a strange sound, almost like a clank. As the clock ticked, she tapped her foot again and again. It was finally the day that she would leave for California again. And as if trying to annoy her, Seb was packing especially slow. She pulled out her phone and started texting Simon. She might as well waste time.

She had been texting Simon for five minutes when she felt breath on her neck. She turned around to find herself face to face with Jace. He gave her a crooked grin as she scowled. Was everything a joke to him? He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Who are you texting?" His breath ticked her ears and almost made her knees weak.

She pulled herself together though and pushed him away from her. "None of your business Goldilocks." He pressed his hand to his heart and let out a cry.

"How you deny our love so easily! It hurts me so!" She rolled her eyes and started texting again. She was in the middle of sending Simon another flirty text when her phone was ripped out of her hands. Jace had it and was holding it above her head. She wasn't going to sink to his level of jumping for it so instead Clary crossed her arms and screamed.

Seb came rushing into the kitchen with a baseball bat. "What's wrong Clare-bear?" She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. She buried her head in his chest and started crying. It wasn't hard thanks to all of her acting lessons and luckily it was convincing. She continued sobbing into his shirt as she told him, "Jace stole my phone. And now he won't give it back. All I was doing was texting Daddy to make sure he would have my car at the airport on time and he took it!"

She looked up at Seb as he gave Jace a hard look. "Give her the phone. Why did you even take it?" Jace gave him a nasty grin. He threw the phone back to Seb, but Clary caught it in mid-air. She didn't hesitate a minute to stick it in her back pocket as soon as her hands were on it again.

"Hey Seb? Why don't you ask your sweet and innocent sister what she was doing?" Clary gave Jace a look telling him to shut up but he ignored it. He continued without skipping a beat. "She isn't that innocent though. In fact, based off the texts I read, she's quite the tease." Clary had enough. She marched up to Jace and slapped him hard, leaving a red palm mark. she gave him a satisfied smirk.

"Maybe you shouldn't make up lies about the person paying for your vacation Jace." She then marched to Seb's room. She zipped the suitcase close and started carrying down to her car. He stopped her.

"Clary, don't let him get to him to you. He's always this rude." Clary felt the familiar sting at the back of her eye that told her that she was about to cry. She stared at the sun. For some reason it helped her to not cry.

The two stood in an awkward silence until Alec came down the stairs. "Hey Sebastian, is Cali still on? I already quit my job." Seb then gave Clary an angry nod before putting stuff in the trunk. She stood there and continued looking at the sun. She was taken out of her daydreamish state when Alec gave her shoulder a shake.

"Hey Cherry, let's go. We're ready when you are." Clary then snapped at him. She was already dreading this summer and it hadn't even started yet.

"My name is Clarissa, not Cherry." Clary then stalked out of the room. "Get your own ride! Be at the airport in an hour or else Cali is off for y'all!" On her way down to her car, someone stopped her. She turned around and saw Jace. He had a look of concern on him.

"Hey Clarissa, are you okay? You seemed kind of pissed in the apartment." Clary gave him a smirk.

"What do you mean pissed? There's that-girl-stole-my-outfit pissed, and then there's i'm-gonna-rip-your-face-off pissed. So Jace, tell me, what do you mean pissed?" Jace returned her cocky smile with another.

"I mean pissed as in, you might want to get some tampons and Midol because Cherry, I wouldn't be surprised if your period has started." Her jaw dropped. Who did he think he was? She slapped him within a second and started marching to the car again. She got in the driver's seat and turned on her music. She sat engulfed by the beating of drums and melodic voices until Seb knocked on her window.

"I know you're mad at Jace and Alec but I still need a ride. And please don't make me ride with them in a cab." She gave him a small smile before unlocking his door. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you rubbing that necklace? Is it lucky or something?" She gave him a curious look. What necklace was she supposedly rubbing? she glanced down at her neck and realized she was indeed rubbing the necklace from Val.

She quickly tore her hand away from it and started the car. "It's nothing Seb. Just an old gift." She then pulled out of the drab little apartment buildings. She shifted into third gear and gave her brother a quick wicked smile. "Let's roll. Cali is calling me!" She let out an immature 'whoop whoop' and sped down the highway.

* * *

Clary was in her usual spot on her father's plane when she felt something poking her consistently. She looked around and found a note on a torn napkin. It was written in a messy handwriting and she could barely make out the words.

**_Hey Cherry, maybe your staff can get you that Midol ;)_ -J**

Furious, Clary made the mistake of looking at him. he was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Fed up with him, she flipped Jace the bird and looked out of her window. Below her she could see the endless fields that were filled with all kinds of colors. It was an artist's dream to see something as beautiful as this. She loved how everything blended together in perfect harmony. She had tried to draw the landscape one time but it came out horrible. Since then, she had stuck to strictly only drawing comic like pieces.

Clary felt something hard and painful on her tongue. She then noticed that she had been snacking absent minded and bit her own tongue. She quickly picked up the freezing cold pina colada. The ice in the drink helped numb the pain. She kept sipping the drink until she had a brain freeze. She set the cup down on the table/tray thing next to her. She pulled the cherry and pineapple out of it before Clary had it taken away.

After eating the fruits, she grabbed the bag at her feet and headed for the bathroom. She locked the door immediately and started digging through her purse. She pulled out a bottle of Benadryl. She twisted off the cap and dumped the pills into her hand. Since it was only four, twice the amount she normally took, Clary tilted her head back and put them on the back of her tongue. She grabbed her bottle of water from the bag and took a drink. She leaned up against the wall once done.

_What am I doing?_ she thought solemnly to herself. Two years ago, she would have never taken a pill even if she was sick. She would have her mother buy her the liquid medicine. Now she was taking them like they were candy. She ended up on the floor somehow clutching her face between her was a sharp ringing in her ears and the plane seemed dizzy. It just kept getting worse so Clary kept drinking the water. It tasted strange but then again, everything was strange to her at the moment.

She pulled her head up and then realized why the water tasted strange. It was the bottle of vodka she had filled up while Seb was gone and Jace and Alec were yet to arrive. She then turned towards the toilet. She started pressing hard on her stomach. When nothing happened she pulled the toothbrush out of her bag and stuck in down her throat. After a moment of stillness, Clary began retching up everything in her stomach. Her body was slightly spasming as she did this.

Five minutes of vomiting had really made Clary light headed. After the last of her stomach emptied into the porcelain bowl, she had wiped her face with her hand to get any of the bile off. She slammed her head against the wall. There was no way that Seb hadn't heard of trying too hard to cover it up, she instead just brushed her teeth and started eating mints. She ransacked her mind for the perfect excuse when it hit her. She had ate sushi with Seb last night. She could just blame it on some bad fish.

It was a good thing she had thought of the excuse because she opened the door to see a worried Seb. "What? I just had some bad fish last night Seb. Nothing to worry about." She pushed past him and returned to her seat. Alec and Jace threw her glances but she just ignored them and ate the salad she had ordered. Instead of running away in her thoughts, Clary focused on her salad. The chicken tasted like it was just friend, he berries tasted fresh, and she actually liked the tart pomegranate vinaigrette. And then she started thinking about how long she would have to work out to work the calories off. She then realized with a jolt that she was never this vapid. Something had changed. Now Clary couldn't form her own thoughts. She looked around her and saw Jace. "That's why," she said quietly.

* * *

Clary sat up. The seatbelt sign flashed above all their heads. She clicked the seat belt into place and started picking stuff up from around her. She finished in time to hold onto her seat at the plane skidded to a stop. She practically jumped out of her seat and bounced down the stairs. Across the concrete landing washer baby. She let out a squeal and started running the best she could in the 7 inch heels. She opened the door and slid into her seat. Sh smiled and let out a few giggles. She had missed her car terribly over the past week.

She sighed and turned the car opn. She felt it start purring underneath her. She leaned back in her seat and waited for the boys to catch up. When they arrived, luggage in tow, they stared at her with open jaws. Alec was the first to recover.

"Is this yours Cherry? This is a limited edition BMW! There were like only 5 made!" Clary gave him a shrug and turned on her radio. The guys put their stuff in the trunk and pilled up into the convertible. It ended up being Seb in the passenger seat and Alec behind Clary, Jace behind Seb. Clary gave them a laugh and turned the volume up to the max.

"Welcome to California!"

* * *

**Sorry about the lateness/suckiness of this chapter.**

**My beta is ignoring me so the chapters aren't edited. Then I've been preoccupied with my other fanfic and the new Catching Fire trailer came out today so I was busy fangirling over it. Anyways, now the summer drama will start rolling out. Who will hook-up, break-up, fight, etc. Can't wait to write it *-***

**Keep R&R-ing please! I only update based off of amount of reviews!**

**Ciao! ~ .fangirl-17**


	5. Summer of Pool Parties

**JPOV:**

I knew I was a bad driver at times but judging how bad Clarissa was, you'd think I was a grandmother. She was going over 100, weaving dangerously through traffic, blasting music at maximum volume, yet still somehow she was laughing. Finally after five minutes, Seb asked her to slow down. She responded by slamming on the breaks and nearly causing a crash.

"Damn it Cherry! Are you trying to kill us!?" Clarissa gave me a sweet smile as she listened to my complaints. She turned in her seat- mind you, _not_ watching traffic- and gave me a knowing smile.

"Why would you think such a thing? Are you scared Goldilocks?" She looked at me with large emerald eyes. As I stared into them, something tickled in my brain. I know I've seen those eyes before. They look incredibly familiar but extremely distant at the same time. I was still staring into her eyes, searching for what was familiar to me, when she stuck her tongue out at me then turned around.

"We'll be at the mansion in about 3 minutes! Hold on tight boys!" The three of us guys didn't hesitate to grab hold of door handles or to tighten our safety belts. There was a sudden jolt and our bodies shook as she gunned the interstate again.

Since we know knew how she drove, the ride wasn't so bad for the second half. We drove up to a closed gate and Clarissa opened it with a code. The large ironwork doors opened up to a large, manicured lawn. Around the front door were a group of servants that I guess were waiting for Clarissa to arrive. She parked the car in the middle of the turnaround driveway and walked up to the people. She had a smile that could power the world's electricity for a year on her face.

"Hi Alice. Is Daddy home?" I watched carefully as the woman shook her head no. I saw a shudder run through Clarissa's body before she returned to the same cool and put together façade as earlier. She gave Alice a hand gesture that waved off worries and she practically ran into the house. This all happened in the timeframe of me and Alec getting out of the car after Seb and getting our stuff from the trunk.

We walked up the same stairs but the group welcomed us. They were- as I guessed- the household cook and maids. The maids took our luggage and led us on a tour of the mansion. From the second we entered the foyer, I was awestruck. The decor was exquisite and probably cost more than my entire college tuition. The head maid- Savannah was her name I think- explained to us that Clarissa had done the interior design.

"Ms. Garroway simply refused to let her father keep his decorating so he had her personalize the house with a world-class designer. She decided upon everything, even those floral arrangements on the table next to you." I looked to my side and saw a small bundle of flowers. They looked like an artist had made it. the colors bounced off each other and there was multiple sizes and shapes.

I figured that I could add artistic to my mental list of things Clarissa was. Snotty, careless, slightly unstable, and now artistic. We moved on with the tour and into a large living room. It had at least three sofas and five large living chairs. It was incredible. There were several large paintings on the wall. I even spied a 72 inch flat screen on a wall. But that wasn't what was surprising me. It was that even with all the expensive furniture, the house seemed so cozy. Normally houses that were decorated like this seemed cold or distant yet somehow this one was abuzz with energy and love.

I was slapped out of my thoughts as we continued into a hallway off to the side. Looking down it, I noticed that even the hallways had living chairs in them. What was up with that? did she expect us to wait in the hall for her? Our party of four went into a doorway off to the left and into the library. It was grand but it just didn't interest me. I have always hated reading. It wasn't personal.

Minutes later, we had finally finished the tour. Savannah had deposited us into rooms on the third floor and instructed us to never set foot on the fourth floor which was Clarissa's or in the basement which belonged to her father. I figured this much in my brain. It only made sense she had a floor to herself and that her father had one as far away as he could. A rude laugh erupted from my mouth. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor soul who was the father of Clarissa. Seb had so much as even told him one night drunkenly that they had different fathers.

Just as I started thinking about her, the weird sensation that I knew her spread over my body again. So deciding to ignore Savannah's warning, I walked up the stairs to Clarissa's floor. it wasn't hard to find her bedroom. It was actually a talent of mine. Before I knocked on the door I heard Clarissa pacing around inside. She sounded like she was freaking out. Then after a few sentences it hit me that she was on the phone.

"Aline, I'm not kidding. He is in my house and nonetheless in the room under mine!" I thought about her words for a few seconds. i had the room under hers so that meant she was talking about me. A satisfied smirk became my face. No one was immune to my charm. Not even my best friend's annoying little sister.

"Of course it's the same Jace! How many Jaces do you know in New york that happened to be a grade above us and looks like a golden statue!?" I leaned in closer. What was Clarissa talking about? "I'm worried. What if he remembers me. That will have made the past two years pointless. Doesn't it kind of beat the purpose of running away from him?" there was a pause where her friend talked, then "If I had wanted to fix things with Jace, then I would have. You know me Aline. I don't give up unless its pointless."

That was all it took for me to back away. What did she mean fix things with me? I slowly started leaning towards her being unstable even more. I quietly snuck down towards the stairs and flew down them. Just listening to her weird conversation made me never want to snoop on Clarissa again. I made my way towards my room and changed into some swim trunks. I had an amazing view of the almost water park like pool in their backyard. I didn't understand why they wondered it however. The beach wasn't even a mile away and on top of that, it was a private beach.

I walked up to the edge and dived in. The cool water swallowed my body. I put my hand together in front of me and then pushed the water to my sides. My body lurched even further in the chlorine water. It seemed to erase any thoughts of Clarissa from my mind. The water cleared my mind and relaxed the tense muscles I didn't even notice. When at last I went up for air, I was near an edge of the pool. I badly doggy paddled to it and pulled my body up and onto the concrete. After brushing the water from my face I looked at the pair of tapping teal toes next to me.

With any tapping feet, the matching body was Clarissa's. Her normally porcelain skin was an angry shade of pink. When she spoke Clarissa reminded me of the angry girls after a one night stand. It was nasally, high, and had mountains of anger behind it. "Listen Goldilocks and listen closely. I have friends coming over and if you dare make a move on them, I will slowly rip your manly parts off and make you eat them. All of them have boyfriends who will gladly murder you. I hope we have an understanding." I nodded my head slowly. I could lie to her easily. If her friends were hot, I would make a move on them. If they were ugly, I would leave them alone. Then I could just blame it on Clary for having hot friends.

As she walked away from me I couldn't help but watch her swishing hips. They only seemed to point more attention to her butt. I let out a sly whistle. She may hate me and I may hate her, but Clarissa had a nice, tight body. It didn't help her any that she was only wearing a short coverup over a bikini. I let out an internal laugh. So it was a pool party she was hosting. I grabbed a towel from off to the side and dried off. There was no way I would skip out on the chance to spy on them as they play in tiny swimsuits.

As I made my way back inside the mansion only one thought could cross my mind. I was starting to adore California.

* * *

Clary pressed the end button on her phone and threw it on her bed. She opened the door of her room about to walk downstairs for a snack when she spied a mop of golden hair going down the stairs. Had Jace heard her conversation? She prayed to the Angel that he hadn't. It would only cause more trouble if he remembered her. And frankly, that was how she wasn't expecting her summer to go. Clary raised her chin up in superiority. she was not going to have Jace ruined her plans.

Suddenly Clary realized that she was alone in the house with the guys. She walked back to her phone and sent a quick text to her friends and her boyfriend to come visit her. After Jem told her he was up for it, she got a text back from Sophie and Jessamine that they were with their boyfriends. She then sent them a text extending the invite to Gideon and Nate. She needed them to return back into her role. New York was making her go soft. Not long after Cecily and Tessa texted her stating that they were bringing Will and Gabriel with them. She figured that they must have heard about the other two.

Clary set her phone back on her bed and started stripping. She needed to get into her swimsuit soon. It took the girls maybe less than ten minutes to arrive on a normal basis. Now that she was coming back from a trip, they would be even quicker. She quickly looked around and found her super cute string bikini from aeropostale. It was a light blue with ruffles and white polka dots. It was cute but she hadn't wanted to wear it the first time she saw Jem again. Sighing, she put it on. Jem had always told her she was beautiful in anything she wore. But then again, he probably was too lazy to even notice her clothes.

Clary grabbed a small white terry cloth cover on and put it over her body. She was now sharing the house with Seb and his friends so she couldn't just walk around in her bikini all day. Not with the temporary perverts also know as Jace and Alec. She put her hair into a quick bun and started down the stairs. She just so happened to look out the kitchen windows and saw Jace swimming inside of her pool. Clary had a mini heart attack. She would not have him ruining her party. She put down the packet of baby grapes she was going to eat and went outside.

She looked around and spotted where he would most likely come up for air. She stormed over to it and started tapping her foot. Not disappointing her, Jace popped up and swam to where she was. She noticed how the sun caught his tan and the droplets of water only made Clary want to run her hands over him. Clary internally scolded herself. She had an incredible boyfriend who loved and cared for her. Clary did not want this college casanova. At least that was what she kept telling herself.

Jace looked up at her and she started instructing him, "Listen Goldilocks and listen closely. I have friends coming over and if you dare make a move on them, I will slowly rip your manly parts off and make you eat them. All of them have boyfriends who will gladly murder you. I hope we have an understanding." His body jerked back slightly. He definitely was surprised by her words. He gave her a quick nod and she turned to walk away. Clary was halfway across the concrete when she heard him whistle. She extremely wanted to turn around and murder him now. _This asshat is checking me out while I walk away?_ Clary thought to herself with disgust. _Only Jace would do such a thing._

Instead of murdering him she continued to her door where her friends most likely were already. She crossed the giant household and swung the door open to see the four faces of Tessa Gray, Cecily Herondale, Jessamine Lovelace, and Sophie Collins. They all had grins on their faces that resembled the Joker. Clary let out a squeal and opened her arms wide. The other girl flew to her and they engaged in a tight group hug. They all were squealing and doing little jigs when they broke apart.

Cecily gave Clary a little twirl motion with her pointer finger to observe her outfit. Her eyes widened when Clary finished. "Oh no Clarissa! You are as a sheet! Is the New York sun really that bad? We have to work on your tan now!" Clary gave her a shrug and looked behind her best friends into the driveway. There by his car was Jem. Clary pushed past the others and ran down to him. When she reached him, Clary jumped on him and they had a cliché moment like in the movies when the two lovers see each other after years of torture. She folded her legs around his waist and wrapped her arms around his next; he twirled her around and kissed Clary passionately.

Finally they stopped kissing to breathe and she looked at him. "I've missed you so much baby. You will never believe how boring it was in New York. I was practically stuck in brother apartment the entire time." As Jem put her back on the ground she made a decision to not tell him about Simon yet. He was a part of the puzzle that was her old life which she had promised Jem she would tell him about one day. But obviously, she had decided it was not the day for that yet. Jem leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss on the nose.

"_Mi sei mancato anche il mio amore_," he sweetly whispered in her ear. An involuntary shiver ran through her body. Clary leaned back and playfully punched Jem in the arm.

"No fair! You know what your sexy languages do to me! What is that anyway? Spanish?," she asked him with a smile. He knew that she loved his sexy languages but it was still cruel to speak to her words she didn't understand right after she had returned. Jem gave her an identical smile and stretched. He pulled his arms up and it wasn't helping that the wife-beater he was wearing happened to be see through.

When he finished stretching he finally told her his answers. "It's Italian and it means 'I have missed you too my love'. Does that answer your question?" Clary let out a shaky breath and mumbled a yes before she kissed him again. They were about to start making out again when Will interrupted them.

"Sorry for interrupting you but I thought we came here to swim, not to watch you two swap saliva."

Clary groaned and turned from her spot curled up in Jem's chest and gave Will an ice stare. "You've been here before. You know where the pool is. Now go swim. I am enjoying the company of my boyfriend. And by the way Will, is that what you told Tessa when she came back from her winter vacay?" Will gave her an astonished gasp.

"Did our little Miss Clarissa just insult the great Will Herondale?" Clary gave him a wink and started curling even deeper into Jem. They stood and watched their friends walk into her home. She closed her eyes and let out a breath she had been holding. Clary had worried that after New York that she would be different but everything seemed to be the norm.

Jem leaned down and kissed her crown. "You know, I've never been in your pool. So what do you say M'Lady? Will you do me the pleasure of going swimming?" Clary let out a careless laugh and kissed the arm wrapped around her.

"You are so cheesy James Carstairs. But I still love you. For better or worse."

He gave her a return laugh and she felt him smile. "So are you Clarissa. You sound as if you are reciting wedding vows."

Clary pulled away from him and cocked her head to the right. "Maybe someday we will Jem. Now about swimming, I would love to." She found his hand and entwined their fingers. She looked up at him in the soft sunlight. It showed how beautiful his silver hair was and made his eyes bright, even mysterious.

She gave him a quick smile and started walking with him to the pool. She was completely oblivious to the eyes watching her from the third story.

* * *

**Dun dun duh! Who do you think was watching her? O.o**

**Sorry about the uber-late update. My beta quit so now I am editing myself. Then I wrote this chapter, reread it, then completely deleted it. This happened about five times. For some reason I couldn't figure out how I wanted events to play out. Grrrr... Author problems. Such a pain.**

**But you don't want to hear about my boring life, do you? No. You want me to update quicker. However, I'm at the climax in my other fanfic so I'm paying super close attention to it. I have actually been working on it for the most part. If anyone hasn't read it, I suggest you do ;) Its really good.**

**Now about other stories, I wanted to put up the info about my other fanfic and the one I'm beta-ing. I personally like both and wanted to suggest them.**

_**The One Who Go**__**t**__** Away-**_ Set 2 years after CoG when Jace tells Clary to leave Idris. She does and runs away, only visiting when Jace is gone since he broke her heart. But what happens when she visits and he is there, and suddenly the two start falling in love again?

s/9367805/1/The-One-Who-Got-Away

_**New and Old Rituals- **_Tessa is the new girl of The Institute Boarding School. When she meets Will, she doesn't have the best thoughts about him. Will was just following the old rituals that the popular kids gave every new student. Tessa was the big target. What happens when a small bond has been created between Tessa and Will? Will new rituals be made?

s/9381661/1/New-and-Old-Rituals

**Now onto serious news.**

**I'm leaving for vacation in one week but I'll probably be struck by inspiration at the resort. This will result in me staying up forever to write an outline of a chapter (if not I'll at least post a sort of teaser scene that happens in the near future.) I'm going to the Hill Country which is really beautiful because it's serene and has pretty landscaping. Like there are these awesome limestone cliffs that are amazing. **

**Another time countdown I'm doing is that in 31 days I will be going back to school. Unfortunately, I was stupid and signed up for 5- repeating very slowly 5- Honors/Pre-AP/AP or whatever you want to call them classes. That means the very future of this story is in jeopardy. I may continue it but slowly and I may just stop writing it all together until next summer or my holiday breaks.**

**So I can't leave without asking questions. So please take about three minutes to answer them in the reviews :)**

**1- What did you think of the Jace POV? How can I improve it? (My preferred POV is third person that stalks the character around)**

**2- What was your reaction when Jace almost found out about Clary- or rather _remembered_- in the first scene?**

**3-Do you like having TID characters in the story? I was frankly too lazy to create millions of OCs for this and just kind of entered names that everyone knows.**

**4- Do you ship Jerissa? (JemxClarissa)**

**Ciao darlings! _PinkPanda_**


	6. Summer of Italian Food

**Before I begin Chapter 6, I want to apologize for posting this at midnight (where I live it is anyway.) I was struck with inspiration. That and I was actually free and not packing :/ **

**PS- If anyone who reads this is getting to go see one of the TMI Mall Tour, I am so jelly! The closest one to me is Miami and that's a two day trip :( Life is soooo unfair.**

* * *

Clary was having the time of her life. She was currently sitting in Jem's lap in her hot tub having an intense make out session. Things were heating up quickly and not just because of the water. He was slowly kissing his way from her mouth to her cheeks than her ear and all the way down her neck until he was at her collarbone. She had been completely melting put she found enough strength to push him back slightly. She looked him deep in the eyes then let out a giggle. She was never very well at being serious with Jem.

"I get it Jem. You missed me. But we have to stop or else someone is going to see us. And trust me, it will most likely be my brother if not then the maids. Jem, you have to admit that either is equally terrifying. Last time Savannah caught us, she screamed at me and tried to even exorcise me for 'committing such sins that only the devil caused.' Seb on the other hand will rip you piece by piece until nothing remains. I frankly am not in the mood to see you torn apart." She leaned in a gave him a lingering kiss before moving off of him and out of the hot tub.

"I have to go check on my brother and his idiot friends. You can stay and actually swim like we were suppose to or you can go home baby. I sadly do not see you staying over anytime soon. Like I said, I have three guard dogs on the third floor. Seeing you hurt is the last thing I would ever want." She threw the not wet towel onto a random chair and slipped on her coverup. Jem called a sweet goodbye to her in what she believed to be German and left a few minutes later.

Clary was completely exhausted and hungry. She stepped inside of the house and called out for her personal chef Bridget to make her something Italian. Ever since Jem had told her the sweet nothings in Italian all day she had been craving it. Clary ran up the stairs and was almost past the third floor when Jace called her name. She slammed her foot down and rolled her eyes. Jace always found a way to ruin her day.

"What do you want Goldilocks?" He gave her a smug smile and mounted the stairs. he took each one slowly, deliberately annoying her. He finally reached her and was only inches away from her face.

"What are you doing?" Clary let out a frustrated breath. This is what he interrupted her for?

"Going to take a shower, but you don't need to know that. In fact, I don't have to be here. So if you excuse me Goldilocks, I have my life to live unlike you."

Jace took a step closer and was mere millimeters away. She could feel his hot breath on her ear. It was warm and slightly tickled the hairs in it. In fact his proximity was making her body shiver. He was so warm yet he made her entire world feel cold. "You want to know something Cherry? I'm positive that you need a shower after that hot tub dip. I could practically see the hormones flowing off of you. It was kind of hot in a way. And if you looked at it a certain way, you could almost see-" but he never got to finish his sentence because Clary had already stomped on his foot and then kneed him in the groin.

* * *

Jace stepped back in pain as he watched through strained eyes Clarissa running up the stairs. Her fiery hair was the last thing he saw before he stumbled down the stairs and into the suite. It was the only proper word to call the room. It was built exactly like a hotel suite. There was a gigantic bed with plush bedding, a kitchenette, a luxury bathroom, and even flat screen TVs. He had been in hotel rooms that weren't as impressive as this room.

He stormed over to the bathroom and looked for a first aid kit. They had to have on in this room somewhere. At last he found one. Jace was about to jump in glee when he remembered his injured foot. He let out a string of cuss words and started wrapping it with an ace bandage. He decided to just take aspirin for his injured buddy. Jace quickly put up the kit and fell onto his bed. he could use a nap right now. He closed his eyes and fell into a blissful sleep.

He woke up what he assumed to be an hour later. There was a garlicky smell in the air that reminded him of his grandmother's home in Italy. He had been there once and she had fed him so much pasta that he refused to eat spaghetti for a year. He changed into some basketball shorts and a wife beater then headed down towards the smell. he arrived in the kitchen and was right about the smell. Clarissa's personal chef Bridget was making a four course Italian meal for who he assumed Clarissa.

There was chicken and gnocchi soup for the appetizer and then a fresh salad that looked Olive Garden worthy. They were set to the side as Bridget was plating the main entrée. It was linguini in a sauce covered by some chicken parmesan and fried potato pieces. Even though he was extremely cautious about his physique, Jace wanted some of the food. He cleared his throat and Bridget looked at him.

She was tall with tan skin and dark red hair the color of Mufasa's in The Lion King. It wasn't bright like Clarissa's but more subdued. She had strange brown eyes and rarely spoke. She currently had a wicked looking wooden spoon that Jace knew had to hurt if struck at you. His grandfather had once used one like it on Jace. All he can remember about it was having to wear foundation to hide the bruise.

"You hungry boy?" Jace looked at her in surprise that she had read his thoughts so easily. His gut instinct was to say something snarky to her. But the food made him so hungry that he just nodded his head. Bridget muttered complaints but none the less got down a bowl from the cupboards and filled it with the soup. He found a seat at the island bar and waited for his soup.

Bridget barely had time to pull her hand away when Jace had begun to eat. It was a pleasant soup. It was not too thick yet not too thin. The gnocchi in it was amazing and he savored the chicken in it. He came across the spinach which he absolutely despised but he could not taste it in the soup. He had finished it within five minutes. Jace slid his bowl forward to Bridget and waited for the salad.

She gave him a scoff for finishing quickly but soon enough passed him a saucer with the salad on it. He had eaten almost all of it when he noticed a presence beside. On the bar stool in all of her superiority was Clarissa. Her hair was wet and braided to the side. She had changed out of the tiny bikini and into some shorts and a Cornell shirt that was way too big on her. Jace also noticed that for the first time since he has seen her, Clarissa was bare of any makeup. He took in her face for what it truly was. Her eyes were larger and greener than with the eyeliner showed. Her cheeks were pinker without the blush. She even had a splash of freckles over the bridge of her nose and onto the pink cheeks. Jace was about to choke on the croton he had just ate. She was actually really pretty.

Jace observed her while he finished the salad. She moved with an unspoken grace as she accepted the food. Clarissa always said "thank you" and "please" to Bridget even when she didn't have to. Hell, even the way she ate fascinated Jace. It was like watching a princess from one of his sister's childhood princess movies. She always had perfect etiquette and had finished her soup and daintily slid it forward to exchange courses. She was receiving her salad when she looked at Jace for the first time.

"You do realize it is awfully rude to take another person's dinner?" Jace gave her a light-hearted shrug in return before he replied. He had discreetly noticed Bridget listening as she plated the entrée dish. He decided it would be best to choose his words carefully.

"Yes Clarissa, but at the same time it is as rude if not more to stomp on someone's foot?" Clarissa turned a shade of scarlet and looked away from him as if the sight of him hurt her. She looked around the room before she found an imaginary thread on the t shirt. Clarissa finally looked up as Bridget served the dish.

"It's Potato Parmesan Chicken." Clarissa mumbled a thank you and started cutting the two chicken breast. Jace on the other hand stabbed one with a fork and lifted it up to eat whole. He was quite enjoying it until he saw Bridget's evil eye turned on him. Jace promptly put it down and started cutting it. He finished and twirled some of the noodles onto his fork and took a bite. He was right about the garlic sauce on the noodles. Bridget's pasta was addicting. He couldn't seem to stop eating more and more of the dish.

The previous courses Jace had mainly eaten out of hunger. Now he ate because it was delicious. He finished his plate at the same time as the hostess. Hers was only about three-fourth finished he noted. bridget took them away and came back with two tiny desserts. One was what looked like lemon and the other was chocolate. Bridget handed the tray to Clarissa to choose first. she was about to reach for the chocolate when instead she quickly choose the lemon.

Clarissa passed him the tray with the chocolate on it. He picked up the treat. It was small, about only the size of a shot glass. He picked up a spoon and ate half of the dessert in one bite. The chocolate was easily bitter. There was a pie crust like bread at the bottom which was sweet covered in chocolate gelato and drizzled with mini chocolate chips and syrup.

The lemon looked to be similar. Jace finished his and stood, offering his hand to Clarissa. "May I offer the lady of the house an escort to her floor?" Clarissa looked at him a second and Jace thought for a second she may accept his hand. Instead she gave him a disgusted look and walked out of the kitchen with her chin held high. Jace muttered curses under his breath before he left to go follow her.

* * *

Clary stormed out of the kitchen. Did he seriously have the nerve to ask her to escort her to her room? The douchebag was probably just trying to hook up with her on the first night. She let out another frustrated breath as she slammed her door. Jace hadn't changed at all since Tenth Grade. He may as well have still been the same jock that he was before she ruined his life. Or correction, she almost ruined his life. She had set up the Cornell scout to watch his game which earned him a scholarship to his dream school. That kind of thing could certainly make him forget about her.

Clary went to her bed and grabbed her phone. She needed to vent to someone about this. The problem was she couldn't call any of her girls or Jem. that would involve telling them about her past. She would tell Aline but she probably would make fun of Clary. There was Seb but Jace was his buddy and she didn't want to start off the summer with a pissed brother. She had lied to him as much as she had to Jace. That left only really one person she could tell and trust that they wouldn't reveal. She put down the iPhone clutched in her hand. Clary walked to the door and screamed for Savannah.

The maid came up the stairs and looked at Clary waiting for an order. Clary wiggled her fingers to beckon the servant forward. Once Savannah was close to her door, Clary snatched her hand to pull her forward. Savannah had no time to struggle before Clary had the door locked. She then looked at the girl.

"I need your advice Savannah." Clary let out a breath she realized she had been holding. Savannah came forward and set down on the edge of Clary's bed. She was next to Clary and she rubbed the girl's back in a comforting manner. Clary took in her maid.

Savannah was only a few years older than Clary, about Seb's age. She had light brown hair and blue eyes that were trusting. Her face was fair but not the extreme pale that Clary was. Clary took a breath again then let out a cry.

"It all started before I moved to California. It was right before my English class started." Clary let out a few more cries into Savannah's shirt as she recounted her story. Savannah never interrupted Clary, just let her continue. She is an incredible listener, Clary thought bitterly. For once, she was jealous of the life of her help. They had better lives than she did. All of them didn't have much money but they had people who loved them and were always there for them. Luke had stayed home for about three months after Clary moved before he left on business. In the two years since she had left, Clary had seen her father for less than a few days every year. He was always gone in Rome or Paris or Toronto working.

As Clary finished by telling of what happened at supper, Savannah gave her a small smile. "Clarissa, you have a blessed life. I sure that you were hurt by your mother and this Jace but now you are surrounded by friends who love you and the staff does too. You are stronger now than you were in New York. I suggest that you don't think about the past and just ignore Jace. If you two had the kind of love that you told me you shared, then he will remember you on his own. He won't need you to come clean and tell him."

Clary stared in awe at the motherly figure of her life in California. She gave Savannah a squeeze and thanked her for the advice. It helped Clary feel better and not as guilty. Savannah stood and told Clary goodnight before going downstairs to finish the nights duties and then eventually retiring to the staff house outside.

The maid was gone in seconds and Clary was alone. She appreciated the silence after pouring her heart out. She went and turned on her miscellaneous lamps in her luxury room. She had painted the walls white and instead opted to keep her artistic touches to the decor and furniture. The bedding she had was only simple white but her throw pillows on the bed were fuzzy and multi-colored. The chairs were different types, shapes, and sizes. The rug that occupied the dark cherry maple wood floors on half of her room was a sophisticated zebra print. Her walls had photos in silly frames in abstract patterns in random spots.

Clary smiled as she passed the photos. They were mostly of her in California with her friends or on exoctic vacations Luke took her on. Sprinkled very lightly in the groups were ones of her growing up, ones of her and Seb, then finally one of her and her mother at the fair when she was 15, and the last one of her old life. It was a slip of four photos from a photo booth.

She had put this one in a spot anyone was most likely never to look. In the four photos was a cheerful sixteen year old girl and a guy who was seventeen. She had red roots peeking out of the brown hair dye that was wearing off. Her green eyes were full of life. He had on a genuine smile unlike his usual cocky smirks. His amber eyes looked like molten gold from the emotions than shined. The two were close and smiling. It was a contagious smile they shared. In the first three photos they were doing silly poses like bunny ears. The final one showed them sharing a passionate kiss.

Clary lifted up her fingers to her lips and tried to remember the carnival. She had been sentenced to doing volunteer work at it for flipping freshmen off during Romeo and Juliet because she didn't want to kiss Jace. They had finished their shifts and were floating around and enjoying the friendly atmosphere. They had gone onto the ferris wheel as friends but came back down in love.

While in the photo booth Jace had dared her for their final photo to be them kissing. At the time Clary couldn't deny a dare and did it. The rest of the night had been awkward after it.(1) Clary was ripped out of her reverie by a knock at the door. She turned her neck slightly in confusion. Savannah would have come in. She quickly backed away from the photo and went to her door. Clary too a breath and prayed it wasn't Jace. That would be the worst thing that could happen at the moment. She was liable to jump on him and start kissing him and telling him the truth.

She opened the door and was glad to see it was Seb. He gave Clary a hug then examined her outfit. He gave her a smirk that wasn't snarky but sweet. "Awwww! You still have that shirt Clare-bear? I bought it for you what seems forever ago!" Clary gave him a laugh and shook her head at him. He used to be able to read her body language and know her feelings like the back of her hand. He had become so oblivious in the past two years.

"Well, you bought me this shirt. I could never throw it away. Too much sentimentality is attached to it. And plus, all of my pajamas are dirty. It was this or sleeping in my underwear. No offense but Jace and Alec creep me out too much for the latter."

Seb gave her one of his hearty laughs and moved into her room. He took in the colors and simplicity of it. He gave her a nod in approval at her decorating. He moved to sit in the hot pink egg chair in a corner. Clary gave him a pointed look but moved into a green chair across from him that looked like Lady Gaga had made it. She sat with her legs curled up in front of her as if she were doing a tornado drill. Silence coated the room for what seemed an hour before Seb cleared his throat.

"So anyways, who were the people that came over earlier?" Clary looked at Seb with overwhelming confusion. Was he curious or was he pissed at her for having company? She decided it had to be the latter. Why would he be jealous of her friends?

"They were my friends and their boyfriends." When Seb opened his eyes at her and looked severely confused, Clary realized she had forgotten all about Jem. "Also my boyfriend. He came too." Seb let out a small 'oh' and started looking at his feet. So he was jealous, Clary thought. She examined Seb while he was looking down. The first time in two years to be exact.

He still had his dad's dark black hair that was like midnight. His features were broad and bulky. He was extremely muscled. His brown eyes sparkled. He had tan skin despite New York's ever present cold. He had inherited all of his dad's features with none of Jocelyn's. Her on the other hand had received all of Jocelyn's genes. The only from Luke she got was shortness from his mother's side or whatever.

He must have felt her looking at him because he looked up at her. She came up with the quickest thing to direct attention off of her. "Were you spying on me earlier Seb?" He looked almost nervous as soon as she asked. Clary giggled and shouted "BUSTED!" Seb looked at her all embarrassed but she only laugh.

"I was curious Clary. It was nothing. How was I suppose to react when like three cars came rolling into here when you are normally home alone?" Clary had been giggling but went stiff. He had said the name that shall never be mentioned.

"Clarissa Seb. My name is Clarissa. I told you to never call me Clary ever again. I tolerate Clare-bear. But you will never call me Clary again. Clary died when I moved to California."

Seb looked at her with pitying eyes. "I know Clare-bear, but why? What happened to you in New York that would make you want to leave? You loved Mom. And I know for a fact you just don't give up out of the blue."

Clary let out a frustrated groan and stuffed her face into a pillow. She let out several muffled screams before looking at Seb wild-eyed. "You never understand anything! Maybe I won't tell you because I don't want to! Will you please drop me leaving? I have my reasons Seb. I'm just not ready to tell you." She had started her answer screaming but had dropped to a whisper as she pleaded to her brother.

Seb stood up from the chair and stretched. "Good night Clare-bear. I'll see you in the morning." He ruffled Clary's hair and swiftly exited the room, leaving her in tears. She buried her face in the pillow again and cried. Sometime that night she had gotten up and moved to her bed. She stuffed her face into the pillows and cried even more. Around one am, the tears ended putting her into a dreamless sleep state.

* * *

She awoke to her blaring alarm clock. Sunlight was dancing in her eyes and she sat up stiffly. She grabbed her bedside mirror and looked in it to see how bad the aftermath of her crying was. Clary noticed her eyes were slightly puffy but nothing concealer wouldn't fix. She got out of bed and started the hot water to heat in her shower. While waiting for it to heat up she went to check the time.

It was 6:00 am as usual. She had her day all set out before her on a strict schedule. She would take a twenty minute shower before getting out. As soon as she gets out she will blow dry her hair until it is slightly damp. Once that is done, Clary will add her normal hair products to it before styling it. Then after she styles her hair, she will do her makeup. After makeup she will pick out her clothes and put them on. Once her clothes are on, she will add jewelry and grab her shoes and mini backpack. Finally Clary would head downstairs and meet Bridget who will have already made her breakfast.

Clary felt warm steam and she knew the water was ready. She quickly stripped out of her dirty clothes and into the warm shower. She didn't hesitate to start adding the shampoo to her hair. The morning showers had become a second nature to her by now. She rinsed out the shampoo and started on conditioner. While it was in, she quickly scrubbed her body down with her favorite grapefruit body wash. She soon washed off the foamy body wash and conditioner. Finally Clary grabbed her face wash and used it. She hoped that it would get all of the oil off of her face and that it also exfoliated. She had skipped doing so for the past week and was terrified of what might happen.

Once she got out, Clary was happy to find she had taken at least 5 minutes off of her average time. She wrapped her body in a fluffy towel and sat down to start her hair. She finished drying it and decided to stick it up in a simple bun with a french braid down the side of her scalp. She moved onto her makeup next.

Clary kept it simple and decided to just add some eyeliner and mascara to her eyes. Then on a last impluse, she smudged her liner giving her the whole Jennifer-Lawrence-smokey-eye worthy look. She added some nude gloss to her lips and finished the makeup by a quick swipe of blush to each cheekbone. She got up out of her seat at the vanity table and made her way to her walk in closet. She stepped inside and grabbed a quick bandeau bra and some cute boyshorts. After changing into her underwear, clary threw the towel into a dirty clothes hamper on the side. She stepped forward and found her clothes quickly.

She ended up picking a cute layered pink crop top with spaghetti straps. She slipped it on over a plain white camisole. Next she found a pair of Tyler distressed jeans with bell bottoms that someone had given her for Christmas. By the way it showed off her legs, Clary guessed that Cecily must have got them. She had an eye for clothes that flaunts your figure. With the outfit nearly complete, Clary moved over to her jewelry area. It was huge and pretty much reminded her of the jewelry room in The Princess Diaries 2.

She walked over to her necklace section and choose a cute white gold infinity sign with diamonds inlaid. She swiped some plain diamond studs for her earrings and went to her bracelets. Her toughest choice yet was this. She was torn between a Tiffany charm bracelet or a $6,000 bracelet that was made of diamonds to resemble recurring Chanel logos. Clary closed her eyes and picked up the Chanel logo bracelet. Finally Clary went into her shoes.

A cute pair of lace stilettos caught her eye. They were gorgeous. She slipped them on her feet and immediately appreciated the extra five inches they gave her. (2) Clary left her closets and turned all of the lights off. She went to the table by her bedroom door and picked up her mini backpack. In no time Clary had found herself in the kitchen.

Bridget smiled at her outfit and Clary beamed. She wasn't as hopeless at fashion as Jessamine and Cecily insisted. She sat down and started on her breakfast. It was a delicious fruit parfait made with berries and greek vanilla yogurt covered in cinnamon granola. Clary gave Bridget a smile and joked about how well Bridget knew her. She silently ate the meal as she watched the news on the TV. It was the same mix of crimes and bad celebrity stories. She watched nonetheless, only stopping to take a drink of her acai berry juice.

Her iPhone started beeping to alert Clary that her ride was here. She pushed the empty dishes towards Bridget and made her way outside. In her driveway waited Jem in his silver Mustang. He was leaning up against the passenger side door waiting for her. She felt herself brighten up at the sight of him. He had that effect on her. She would suddenly feel happy for no reason. Clary believed it was his contagious happiness though. He was always smiling.

"Hi baby." He gave her another smile and Clary blushed. He somehow was so sweet to her that she would forget about Jace. Jem had found a way to make their love feel like her first relationship when everything made her giddy. He moved aside and opened her door and took the backpack from her. Once Clary was sitting down, he shut the door and walked around to his seat. He got in and set her backpack in the back with his stuff.

He looked to her to see if Clary was ready and she gave him a kiss in response. Jem smiled even more if it was possible and gunned the car forward to the school.

* * *

**So here is another crazy amazy chapter (or at least in my mind!). I hope it satisfies while I go offline for the next few days to pack. I felt guilty enough when I saw all of the sweet reviews. In fact, it moved me to write this 5,000 word chapter so that you had a larger bone to chew on hypothetically speaking. **

**For some of the reviews, I tried to respond to all of them individually but these are to the guests who left me a review.**

**Guest 1- I appreciate but I wasn't really focusing on the party but who her friends were instead. I made it up so that Clary doesn't look like a billionaire loner.**

**Guest 2- That would be rushing the story way too much. I plan on having him slowly start remembering her for a few weeks before it comes back to him. I can't have Jace remember her overnight! That would have been like meeting Jonathan in the first chapter of City of Bones! Way too soon.**

**Jessica- Thanks for reviewing :) I hope you like this chapter**

**greygirl2358- I'm so happy you like Jace's POV. I don't really like the first person angle that I did in Chapter 5 but I made sure to focus some time on him for you. Also, I am glad you like me adding the TID characters. It was easier than creating millions of OCs. And don't worry. I haven't forgotten Henry and Charlotte. Lastly, you were the closest on who was watching her. It was Sebastian! Finally, thank you so much for reading The One Who Got Away. I love seeing people who like both of my TMI fanfics.**

**Another thing, I don't think I have mentioned thank you to anyone of my 37 followers or 16 favoriteurs (Is that even a word? It should be.) You make me continue writing.**

**Notes:**

**(1) I don't believe that Jace and Clary actually went into a photobooth at the carnival (it was an actual event in TKD! XD) much less kissed. I just added this part for it to make the photos even more sentimental.**

**(2) You can find Clary's outfit here :) Just enter it into a search engine because fanfic doesn't do links (Sad day ),; )- cgi/set?id=91503706**

***Disclaimer- I don't own Olive Garden or anything else mentioned in this story, only the plot!**

**Until later my lovelies!**

**xoxo, PinkPanda**


	7. Summer of New Friends

**I'm back! (Imagine evil laughing and dramatic music) So I know it's been forever since an update, much less a preview. My life has just been kicked into pandemonium *silently laughs like a loser at her own bad pun* so I will be super busy for a while. If I have any readers from my other story on here, you already know from its last update that it won't be updated for another 1-2 months. Sadly, I must do the same for this story. I have prior commitments to starting high school, five AP classes, and a volunteer horse program. Alas, here is the final update until fall.**

* * *

Clary was sitting in her Algebra III class and was currently doodling in her notebook. People told her that she needed to work on paying attention but she would tell them to fuck off and that would be the end of it. It wasn't her fault that the teacher had such a boring voice that made her want to go to sleep. In truth, Clary should have just stayed home and pretended that high school was over until graduation on Friday.

She didn't however because Seb would have found out. Either one of the staff would have caved and told him or eventually he would ask her after they talked about it at graduation. She sighed and looked down at her sketch. It was of a cap and gown. She had been drawing that nonstop since senior year started. What was worse was that sometimes when she was bored like right now, she would draw a certain someone in a cap and gown. It would cause her to scream in frustration and burning the page.

Clary was brought out of her reverie when she felt two taps then after a seconds wait another. It was the secret signal her and Cecily had created when they wanted to pass notes. She put her down by her leg and held it open, waiting for the piece of paper. Normally their group would just text, but they all thought that the teacher had a sixth sense that could hear your phone going off before you did. When the paper was in her palm, Clary brought it up and unfolded it under the desk.

**Are you going to Gabriel's pre-grad party tomorrow? ~Cecy**

Clary rolled her eyes and sighed. Of course Cecily would want to know if she was attending Gabriel's party. If Clary didn't go, then automatically neither could Cecily, Jessie, Tessa, or Sophie. She grabbed her pen off of the desk and slid the paper onto her thigh. She had practically mastered writing on her leg in October.

_Of course I am. I don't want to die because I denied to go to your bf's party. I am not THAT stupid Cecy. ~CG_

**I never said you were stupid. Just difficult. ~Cecy**

As soon as Cecily replied, Clary and finished another sketch. It was a person turning their head away. They had dark hair and eyes. They had dark hair and eyes. The facial structure was broad and defined. On the jaw was a small scar from where the person had fallen onto a stapler. Clary quietly giggled to herself. She remembered that day. She was about five and he was chasing her inside during a game of tag. She added finished the shading as she reminisced. Clary gave the board a glance before finishing the picture by adding the name in bubble letters. SEBASTIAN.

As soon as the N was done, she tore it out and put it in her binder. Clary would have to redo it later on a real canvas to make it a Christmas gift for Seb. Clary had just finished putting it in a sleeve protector when the bell rang. She scooped up the binder and notebook and put them into her backpack. As she was closing it, she was approached by Cecily who had an evil smile.

"So I just heard from Katie who heard from Leslie who heard from Bianca that the mall is having a sale. I say the five of us go shopping after school to get some cute new dresses for the party." They had started walking in the hallway by the time Cecily finished her proposition.

Clary gave her a small chuckle. "Tessa and Sophie despise shopping. I don't think that they want to go with us to buy millions of clothes we'll never wear. And didn't Jessie say that her and Nate were going to that new sushi place? Plus, me and you haven't spent any real girl time in forever Cecy." Clary started making noises like a kicked puppy and batted her eye lashes. Cecily had to cave sometime, right?

It was once they both reached their Theater class that Cecily gave in to her.

"If I say yes will you shut up Clarissa? Wait, don't answer that." They both laughed and took their seats in the middle of the auditorium. Cecily and Clary were joined by Tessa, Sophie, and Jessie in a matter of minutes. They all settled in and waited for the day to end as they chatted the entire way through last period.

* * *

"Bye girls! I'll text you later and tell you how our date goes!" Jessie gave them a little wave as she bounced into Nate's car. Cecily and Clary gave her a smile and continued over to where Cecily's car was waiting for them. It wasn't that Cecily couldn't drive, but rather that the entire Herondale family except save for Will, prefered to be chauffeured. The two girls climbed into the back and gave the old man the directions.

They waited until they were at the mall and in a store before they started all of their serious gossip. "So I heard that Nate is going to dump Jessie tonight. That's why he took her somewhere so fancy. something about how he didn't think she would make a scene if they were surrounded by important people." Clary nodded and continued to sip her blueberry pomegranate smoothie. She knew better than to try to speak unless asked once Cecily had started the gossip. "Also, did you know that Assistant Principal Blackthorn is having an affair? The best part is who it's with. You ready for this? It's Gabriel and Gideon's little sister."

Clary wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Tatiana? But isn't she like a sophomore?" Cecily let out a small laugh and nodded. Clary wondered whether Gabriel or Gideon even knew. They would probably murder Tati and Mr. Blackthorn if it came their way. "Ew. He has like 7 kids already and he is already on his what, third wife?"

Cecily gave Clary a shrug then beamed. She held up a cute dress that was short and sparkly. It was exactly what everyone else was going to be wearing. Clary shook her head for no and Cecily slightly deflated. "It was worth looking at." They moved to another rack and Clary held up a short pink dress. It had a black tulle bodice that was rimmed by jewels at the top. A thick pink band ran across just under the bust and the bottom was cute. It had a fluffy pink and black tulle skirt and cheetah over print.

"So I'm thinking this would look good on Tessa. It could show off her long legs. What do you think Cecy?" Cecily looked at Clary as if she just asked her to chop off all of her hair.

"Screw Tessa! This would be perfect on me!" She snatched it from Clary and held it up against her frame. Clary had to admit that Cecily was right. It showed off all of her curves and even made her skin seem more tan. It gave her long legs even more inches and offset her crystal blue eyes. even though it was short, it seemed to be a kind that was unique that no one else would dare try.

Clary sighed in defeat. She had to start all over on finding Tessa a dress. Clary loved that girl to death but she was still clueless on how to dress for a party even after 2 years with Cecily and Jessamine.

She was going through some dresses when a blue one caught her eye. It was simple yet perfect for modest Tessa. It was an aqua dress that was one shouldered, something Tessa hated, but at the same time was very loose. Clary pulled it from the racks. She had to get this for Tessa. She begged to the fashion gods that Tessa wouldn't care as much about the one shoulder once she saw how pretty it was on her.

Clary slid it over her arm and went to look for herself. She wanted a dress with a playful print but at the same time to look beautiful. There was cute dresses but they ended up looking horrible on her. Finally she found one that was simple but adorable on her. It was also black and white so that meant she would get to play with the colors of her shoes.

Once she was done for herself, she met up with Cecily for Sophie. Cecily suggested that they do a sexy fitted black number but Clary didn't like it. It seemed like a polar opposite from something Sophie would wear. This earned a groan from Cecy as she continued to look. They continued like that, looking for Sophie's dress, for what seemed to be forever. finally she heard Cecily squeal.

"I found it Clarissa! Look at this!" Clary did as told and looked at what Cecy had. It was a pretty white dress that was cute and had layers at the bottom intermixed with fringe type fur. The two girls immediately agreed. It was perfect for shy and reserved Sophie to could definitely show some of the people who tortured her that she was indeed beautiful. As they gave one last glance towards the racks, Clary deemed that Jessie could find her own dress and that Clary could too.

They walked out with multiple bags and headed towards the Tiffany store. Clary stepped towards the nearest assisannt and tapped on her shoulder for attention. She talked with the women and gave her the number to pick up her order. The woman complied and came back with a bag. In it was five medium size blue boxes.

"What is in there?" Cecily asked her as soon as they returned to the car.

"Nothing important, it's just a bracelet I order a few months ago at the beginning of the year." Cecily pressed on but Clary didn't let anymore details fly loose. She had wanted them to be a surprise gift and her stubbornness wouldn't let that idea go. She spent the entire ride to her house with Cecy whining about wanting to know what is in the bag and how Clary should let her see it because Cecy was her very bestest friend.

They arrived at the Garroway mansion sooner than either of the girls realized so it came as a shock when the door was already being opened. Clary unsuspectingly got out without question and made her way to the door. She was inside for about five minutes when the first angry shout was heard. It was deep and a sound Clary wasn't used to.

"Clarissa! Where the Hell have you been!" Clary turned towards the source. It was a fuming Seb. Upon the sight of him like this, something in her stomach grew. It was when he was a foot away from her that she understood it. She was scared of her own brother. It was both sad and terrifying that Seb, who was always there for her, was scaring her.

"Ummm... School and then the mall?" She tried to play it off like it wasn't a big deal but it was to him. He held all of Hell's fury in his eyes. When she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, Seb only held on tighter.

"What did you just say? You were at school? I thought that you were out for summer." She gave him an awkward noise that sounded like a no.

"Sebastian, please let go. You're hurting me." This seemed to finally get past his imaginary walls. He let go of her and blinked as if waking up from a haze. He gave her a guilty look and started backing up. He was alarmed and it was making her more terrified. While he seemed to really be taking her in, she was slowly inching towards the stairs. Clary would have to make it up four sets of stairs before she would be safe.

About halfway towards the stairs, she ran into a solid chunk of muscles. It was a familiar one that she used to lean into. Now it only petrified her. Before Jace could get a hold of her, she stomped her heel down on his foot. For what seemed the first time today, she got lucky and was still in the heels. He let go and she dashed up the stairs. Apparently sometime while she was running up, Alec was going down because she heard his loud voice.

Clary saw her door in front of her and swung it open and locked it as soon as she could. She dropped the bags full of dresses and jewelry on a chair and headed to her bathroom. She got in and stripped away her clothes. All she really wanted was a relaxing bubble bath.

A half-hour later, Clary was soaking in bubbles with music blasting from her phone. She was trying to enjoy the song "Mermaid" by Train when for the millionth time Seb pounded. Whenever he would do that, Clary would slid down and under the water for a few seconds. It didn't really help with the noise, in fact the water seemed to amplify it, but the warm water was calming her. It would refresh her and gave her the temporary impression that her life was still as normal as before sophomore year. In a few seconds, a mother would yell that supper was ready and Clary would be crawling out of her tiny bathroom in flannel PJ pants and a worn long sleeve t-shirt. Her hair would be wild and frizzy. After enjoying probably another Hamburger Helper, Clary would be in her room doing homework or watching some new anime.

As her head floated to the top for air, she was once again reminded that this was her life now. She was the long-lost daughter of Luke Garroway who came from a troubled past. She wore designer clothes straight from all the hottest fashion capitals. Her mother had disowned her and the only family she really had left was Seb. Clary tried to listen to the music but one though kept concurring her mind. Was this really the life she wanted?

When Clary tried to imagine the life she wanted, what came to mind was a quiet house. It sat on some water with a wrap around porch. There was acres of land surrounding her. She would be snuggled into the warm embrace of someone. Clary could never see their face but still could sense that it was someone she had already met. There was a captivating spiralling tattoo that cover most of his chest, right arm, and back. He would kiss her softly on her forehead and recite poetry to her until sleep found its way into her night.

Clary suddenly plunged back into the water. She didn't need to be dreaming about that now. As of late, she needed to confront her brother. she leaned forward and pulled the plug from the drain. The water started to go down so Clary got up. There truthfully was no reason to bother sitting in the tub and waiting for it to drain into emptiness.

She sighed and quickly driend off. Feeling nostalgic, Clary slipped on some flannel pants and a tanktop. She quickly pulled her hair into a messy bun and padded down the stairs onto the third floor. Clary took a deep breath and padded down to what she thought was Seb's room. Instead when she knocked, a certain Alec Lightwood answered. He had just came back from clubbing Clary assumed because his clothes were covered in glitter and he had an overwhelming smell of alcohol around him.

The two stood there and stared at each other for what seemed an hour. Occasionly they would shift their body weigt and Clary would cross her arms protectivley over her chest. eventually Alec broke his cobalt blue eyes away from her emerald green ones. he let out a deep breath like he was exhausted.

"I've missed you being in Jace's life Clary. Did you know that? He's been an emotional wreck since you broke up and then he got that scholarship only to find out you set it up. I think the worst part for him was you moving away though. That destroyed him."

Clary felt her careful walls fall down around her. There waas no way Alec could have guessed all of that. It was too accurate to just be a guess. Instead of being smart and trying to deny what he said, she just gaped at him. Her jaw must have been on the floor. There was only one thing she could say.

"How did you figure it out?"

* * *

**Dun dun duhhhhhh! Alec knows the truth O-O**

**Sorry for the extremely long wait again. I just wanted to build up suspense first. And it worked! Yayyyyyy!**

**So now that we all know that Alec knows, I want everyone to review and guess how he figured it out. The person with the most accurate theory will get to preview a special surprise bonus chapter. (Hint: The scene involves Jace during senior year. I won't even start writing it though until I get over 75 reviews.) Do you think you can guess the truth?**

**So I keep getting reviews that are asking for more POVs from Alec, Seb, and Jace. I would love to do it but I feel that this is really Clary's story. It's her heartbreak and emotions that kind of are the base. It would just be confusing if I did POVs from other people all of the time. So that said, I can promise that there is going to be a different POV in the next chapter.**

**If you want to see the outfits and bracelets Clary ordered, just go to www*polyvore*com/party_outfits/collection?id=2833834  
**

**Until later,**

**PinkPanda**


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